263: Payback
I walked through the door, following the lady who I now knew to be called Fleur, down a small corridor to where there looked to be three doors. Unlike all the other guilds where we entered the back, this wasn’t leading upstairs, and it was clearly much smaller.
This became very apparent as we entered the office, which was tiny. It had a small wooden desk with several chairs, and the surrounding walls were covered in bookcases.
“Please take a seat,” she said, gesturing towards them.
Her eyes were on Crisplet, but she didn’t say anything. He, on the other hand, likely didn’t notice at all as he was too busy taking in the room.
I was very surprised when Hari pulled out the brazier that Jen usually carried and placed it on the floor for Crisplet, who used it happily.
“Let’s discuss the details, then, shall we?” Fleur said.
“What would you like to know?” I asked.
Hari, however, seemed to know what to say and took over. “We’re looking at a twenty, forty, forty deal, with the mage and healer getting the extra as they usually require a higher rate. However, we’re flexible with how you distribute the money.”
Fleur waved it off. “I’m not worried about the payment amount; that I can work out. What are you hoping to achieve exactly?”
“Oh, well, for the mage, I wanted the orphans to have a chance at getting the class. In the current system, it’s near impossible without the system doing something random on an uncommon class,” I explained.
Fleur nodded. “Is that the same for the healer then?”
“Yes, but I also want the orphans to be properly trained in combat, and that can come with injuries. It wouldn’t be good training to spend their time in bed, so I am going to improve their diet and training. We need to make sure they stay on their feet, and usually healers are rather well-read, so they’ll be able to assist with that.”
A smile crept across Fleur’s face. “You’ve put some thought into this, it seems. Very well, equipment. Do the adventurers we recruit need to bring their own equipment for this?”
“Yes, initially. There are wood swords and a small training yard for combat, but the reading material is limited, and there is nothing mage or healing related there.”
Fleur nodded, taking notes. “Finally, last two items. I will guess you’d want some form of check-in or report to ensure it’s progressing as you hope, unless you are intending to stay in town, which brings me to the second point, accommodation. I can’t imagine that building would have room for three adventurers to live inside it.”
“Yes, I would like reports. These can be sent to the Ashmoon house in the capital. As for accommodation, no, they wouldn’t be able to stay there, but I will try and organise something for them,” I said.
Fleur appeared to be writing notes for a little while longer. “For one hundred and ten gold, we can provide a guild house for the adventurers, along with monthly reports sent to your house?” she asked, clearly seeking confirmation.
“Yes, my house.”
“And Mr Ashmoon, I want to make sure here: this will not cause issues with the royal family and their direction, because we won’t be defying any orders in that regard.” Fleur looked very serious.
“I am sure. I spoke with him only a month ago and, from our conversation, how the orphanages are being run today is not intended, so I’m doing this with his blessing,” I explained.
Fleur’s eyes went wide. “Then why doesn’t he send people? Surely he has access to better teachers.”
“Within six months I hope he will. If not, I’ll work out something more permanent. Either way, this is what we’re doing now,” I said. Hari was nodding alongside me.
Fleur wrote some more notes before finally signing the bottom of the document.
“Very well, this is the contract for the job. If everything is in order, we’ll take the payment today and you need to sign the bottom.”
Fleur handed over the paperwork, which Hari took first, having a close read of everything, before handing it to me.
The contract itself was very simple. It stated what we were after, clearly defined their roles at the orphanage and their expectations, as well as mentioning guild accommodation, sorting their own food, and length. Everything looked fine.
“Do we know how long it will take to find the instructors?” I asked curiously.
“The combat instructor can be there tomorrow. There is no shortage of semi-retired adventurers who are looking for a safer job. I’ll ensure I get someone who’s capable of working with children. The mage and healer I’ll need to do some checks before I put them in the role. The last thing I want is to pay a mage to sit in a room for six months studying their own magic and forgetting they are supposed to teach,” Fleur said.
The mage comment earned a snort of laughter from Hari.
“Had experience with that type, have you?” Fleur asked.
Hari just nodded, while pulling out the hundred gold we had put aside for this along with an extra ten. While he did that, I signed the bottom of the form, feeling again a slight shift, like there was mana that locked the deal in place, similar to what I felt when signing with Micca.
Crisplet let off a burst of sparks, clearly happy we had wrapped everything up.
“Excellent! That’s all sorted, and it’s an absolute pleasure to be working with you, Mr Ashmoon,” Fleur said.
All I could do was fake a smile. This Mr Ashmoon, or being called Mister earlier, I was feeling like I had aged a decade in the last day, and I still had the meeting I was dreading to go to.
Everything wrapped up fairly quickly after that, as we made our way back to the inn to meet up with everyone else, and importantly with Milo, before I made my way over to the Lord’s place.
Finding him turned out to be incredibly easy as he was sitting at the same table as the night before with Jen and Liane already back. Crisplet rushed across the room as soon as we entered, landing in the fireplace where I saw Jen pull out the statue before it was quickly encased in ash.
Judging by the rowdy atmosphere of the inn already, I also guessed that Gilain was once again buying drinks for everyone. Though the space around the table had clearly been widened since last night, likely Clara’s doing, something told me this table had been reserved for us.
Luis, however, was not back yet, or if he was, he was already mingling in the room, and I couldn’t see him.
Sitting across from Milo, who had the paperwork all splayed out in front of him, I tried to make sense of it, but it was all handwritten notes with amounts and dates, and looked to be recorded daily based on spending and income.
“Anything glaring?” I asked.
Milo shook his head. “No, not really. We need to address the monthly property tax and why he’s not covering the wages, but everything else here is accounted for. Rhyn takes excellent notes, even mentioning when money is saved through food donations and then where it’s been spent on subsequent days. From what I can tell, any donations send the food money to repairs and clothing.”
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“Do we need to look at increasing that amount too then?” I asked.
Milo shook his head. “No, probably not. If they got the full fifteen gold, and only needed to pay for food, repairs and clothing, it likely wouldn’t be a problem. What’s hurting is the wages and this property tax.”
I realised now just how poor my grasp on money really was, but fifteen gold for the year to cover all food, clothes and repairs seemed really low, so I would probably try to figure out a way to increase that, at least by another five or ten gold.
“I might send a message to the capital myself, ask for it to be increased to twenty or so gold,” I said.
“They might do it just out of fear,” Liane laughed.
“I know this is a topic that you also really want addressed. Is there anything I have missed?” I asked.
Liane just let out a sigh. “No, but it’s very similar to what I discovered in my own town. The problem here, Trev, is you’re in a very unique position where you can spend one hundred gold, and not be bothered. The royals will not spend the same on every orphanage across the country; you’d be talking tens of thousands of gold.”
“Then we just need to work out a way to make all these changes but cheaper,” I said.
Liane nodded. “No, I agree with you fully. I doubt the kids here will understand what you’ve done for them, not until they are out in the wider world and see firsthand how others are.”
“That’s fine, they don’t need to know I had anything to do with it; honestly, it’s better they don’t.” I laughed.
“I do want to come for the meeting with Lord Farrow though,” Liane said firmly.
“That’s fine, I want Lily to come along for that one too. I think we need to make a show to ensure he knows we mean business,” I said.
Gilain shocked me by joining in for the first time. “I’ll come along and not hold back my aura; we can have the princ…”
There was a pop of mana that surrounded Gilain, cutting him off mid-sentence, before he could finish what I was sure was a mention of the Prince, and he seemed to notice before frowning.
I felt the bubble grow larger. “It’s Lewie in public, please, Gilain,” Hari said simply when we were encompassed too.
“Lewie and Luis are hardly different, you know. Who came up with the name anyway?” Gilain said.
I heard a snort from beside me as Jen covered her mouth.
“See, she gets it!” Gilain said.
The voice of Luis came from behind, causing me to jump. “It was my sister’s name for me, so I ran with it.”
“Well, you’re hardly hiding anything with it.” Gilain laughed.
“Perhaps not the name, but my appearance is far different than anything people expect. No one outside this group has seen the changes, but I am here because I too would like to come with you to the meeting,” Luis said.
“So Liane, Crisplet, Lewie, Milo, Lily and me?” I asked.
Gilain raised his hand. “I wasn’t kidding; I would be more than happy to come along.”
Luis shook his head. “No, in this situation, I don’t think involving a diplomat would be ideal, sorry.”
“He’s right, plus the six of you will be far more than required anyway,” Hari said.
I noticed Crisplet brought a ball of moving ash that was clearly obscuring the statue to Jen, who stored it without question.
“Let’s do this then?” I said, mostly to encourage myself.
The trip to the manor was surprisingly short, and it seemed they were expecting us as the guard at the front didn’t even try to stop us, simply waving us through.
“Welcome, Lord Ashmoon.” He bowed.
I had not even made it up the path before Lord Farrow himself was standing on the stairs leading to his front door.
I heard Liane mutter from the side, “He must have been waiting for you all day, or had eyes on you at least.”
It was now that Lily came out of the shadow and joined us, walking alongside me.
“Hello, Lord Ashmoon, welcome to my manor. Please come in; I can have a feast brought to the table if you’d like,” he said, bowing.
“No, that’s quite alright. Honestly, I’d like to get the meeting out of the way as soon as possible so I can return to the inn,” I said bluntly.
I couldn’t help but notice him recoil slightly at that.
“Very well, please come in,” he said, opening his doors, allowing us to enter inside.
Again, the house wasn’t as opulent as I was expecting; in fact, it felt very homely. The walls had art covering them, from portraits to landscape paintings. The floor had a thick fur rug, and unlike places like the manor in Dunhearth or the royal rooms I saw, this felt lived in.
“I like your house; it feels warm,” I said, trying to make small talk so he wouldn’t be so on edge.
“Thank you, our family has lived in this home for well over eighty years at this point, our family has been in the city here for over a century” he explained, leading us down a hallway.
I was impressed he had been here for so long, but also noted that he wouldn’t have an excuse of blaming someone else for the financials.
We were led into the dining room, where I saw he gestured to his steward, likely cancelling the feast he had planned, as the man quickly left the room.
“I apologise for doing it in the dining room; my office simply wouldn’t be large enough for so many people,” he explained.
Nodding, I agreed, “Understandable, though we will likely need to see some paperwork from you, in particular around property tax.”
“Property tax?” Frederick asked, confused.
I was putting on my most formal tone, really trying my best to sound like I knew what I was talking about. “That’s correct; in particular, I need to see what you are taking from buildings and the directive you’re following to dictate that amount.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t prepared. I thought you’d want to talk about my staff member yesterday or the orphanage,” Frederick said, surprised, but clicking his fingers, which immediately got the steward back into the room, where he whispered something.
I frowned. “No, I trust you dealt with it, though I will say I don’t appreciate you trying to have someone spy on us while we inspected the orphanage.”
What surprised me most was he said nothing to that; he only hung his head slightly and kept quiet.
“Well, I’ll continue then. On the topic of the orphanage, are you aware that the orphanage is exempt from property tax?” I asked innocently.
Though I noticed the grin on Liane’s face showed she was greatly enjoying this now.
I expected silence again, truthfully, but immediately Frederick raised an eyebrow.
“No, that’s not right; the instructions I received were property tax on all buildings except the temples.” Frederick looked genuinely concerned.
Luis surprised me by actually joining the conversation. “Who gave you that instruction exactly?”
“We received these orders signed by the Calder house nearly nine years ago now?” Again, he just sounded confused.
I caught a glimpse of Luis’s face under the hood and couldn’t help but notice a look of surprise.
“I don’t suppose you have kept these communications?” Luis pushed on.
Frederick nodded. “Absolutely, I keep all records and orders I receive.”
“Seems we need to go higher up the chain for that one,” I muttered, getting a nod from Luis.
Luis again pulled out a seal of sorts that glowed with the form of Alira. “From now on, on weight of this royal seal, the Temple, Orphanage, and any medical establishments are exempt from all property taxes.”
Again, clearly the seal meant something, because Frederick grew pale.
“I understand.”
Luis sat back, not saying anything else while the steward entered the room, carrying a crate of documents, and after some more instructions, he left again to get the official communications.
“Moving on from that one, the next issue is the wages of the orphanage staff. Are you aware that these are to be paid for by the town?” I asked.
Frederick deflated at this question. “I… yes, I read about that when I took over the role many years ago, but I was told this is the way it’s always been, so I didn’t change anything.”
I frowned. “You’ve been in this role for a long time, correct?”
“I have. Eighteen years. And I beg your forgiveness; it was foolish.” Frederick practically begged.
Looking over to Milo, I asked, “What is eighteen years of wages for the orphanage worth?”
A smile appeared on his face, but he pulled out a notebook and quickly wrote something down, before saying, “Sixty-six gold.”
I looked back to Frederick. “Are you able to pay that back to the orphanage?”
“I think so? I will need to sell some items, I believe, but I can pay you the money?” he said.
I shook my head. “No, not me, I want you to pay the orphanage back, and make no mistake, I will be checking it’s been paid.”
Turning to Milo and Liane, I asked, “How long would be reasonable to pay back that sum?”
The grin on Liane’s face never left, while Milo seemed to take the question very seriously. I was expecting Liane to jump in with a single day, but Milo beat her to it, or she just held back.
“I think it would be fair to expect at least a third paid within the next day, with the following forty-four gold paid within a month. That should be plenty of time to organise the funds owed,” Milo said.
Turning back to Frederick, I asked, “That will be achievable, correct?”
He just bowed. “Yes, sir.”